Its multifunctional operational modes include the ability to be turned on by using a small pulse applied to a third terminal in either a latching or non-latching manner. This Ovonic device can scale to sizes smaller than a transistor. These unusual extra degrees of freedom make possible new generations of devices not based upon conventional crystalline physics.

"We believe the functionality of the Ovonic Quantum Control device will enable it to replace transistors and result in new circuitry. It will also be used in the Ovonic Cognitive processor, positioning it to augment and increase performance of today's computers and potentially become the preferred computational system, either binary or nonbinary. It can also be used in combination with the Ovonic phase change memory, Ovonic threshold switch and the Ovonic cognitive computer device. Therefore all thin-film computers would be made possible." Stan Ovshinsky said.The Ovonic Quantum Control -- a proprietary thin-film control device that relies on solid plasma -- is based on new physics and provides big advantages over transistors, he said. It is expected to be smaller, faster and cheaper to produce than transistors and can handle significantly more current than today's transistors, he said. A scientific journal article on the physics is expected in coming months, said Ovshinsky, president and chief scientist of Energy Conversion Devices Inc. in Rochester Hills, Mich.He called the development ``quite unexpected'' and admitted that most people will not comprehend what it is all about. Ovshinsky said he was unable to predict when his device might be available. That depends on building partnerships and investing money, he said. (His company already has partnerships with Intel and GE for his previously developed ovonics unified memory or phase change memory.)The device is going to be in the news a lot in the near future and that's why Tuesday's news conference was held, said Robert C. Stempel, the company chairman and chief executive officer.Better explanations of the device and how it works will be developed ``as we go along,'' said Stempel, a former chairman of General Motors.The California-based Semiconductor Industry Association was not familiar with Ovshinsky's announcement, said spokesman John Greenagel. The American semiconducting industry is changing but it's ``not going to be revolutionized overnight,'' he said. The industry is changing, with products getting ever smaller, but the next sweeping changes will be implemented over the next 15 years, not overnight, he saidStan_Ovshinsky is the real deal as an inventor.